To be honest, a little.
But more than that, it was a relief.
Since this 'ghost' referred to herself, didn't that mean she only needed to watch the ground when going out at night to hunt for treasure chests? As soon as Arya realized this, her blood boiled with excitement. If she could find eleven by being so cautious tonight, wouldn't she be able to find twenty or thirty per hour without the threat of ghosts?
Time to sleep. Sleep, and tomorrow I'll rinse the pots and get straight to work.
Oh, right, she also needed a bath. No wonder she had been mistaken for a ghost, covered in black soot. Wiping the black ash from her face, Arya grabbed her bucket and soap and headed to the stream to clean herself.
Feeling refreshed, she gathered the clothes drying outside and returned to her room to read and study. Exhausted, she slept directly on her simple bed.
The next morning, Arya woke, changed into a T-shirt, and followed the plan she had laid out yesterday: taking the crucible and mortar to the stream.
She picked up a smooth stone and used it to scrape off the rust. Rust removal required no skill, only brute force. After more than an hour of effort, both items were finally clean. She returned them to her workspace and removed her hospital gown and dress to wash them at the stream.
With only four sets of clothes, every piece had to be washed carefully. Standing in the cool water, Arya scrubbed and rinsed, making sure nothing was missed. Half a day passed in this routine, cleaning pots, pans, and clothing, before she finally returned to her desk to browse the exchange, waiting for her items to air-dry.
She bought whatever looked useful, indiscriminately at first. But after a while, the novelty wore off. Turning her attention to her friends list, she began deleting meaningless friend requests. Ever since she had started selling Magic Potions, the requests never stopped. Among the messages were threats, pleas, begging, lecturing, and buyers wanting her entire stock—but hardly anyone simply wanting to talk.
"Ah ha… isn't there a single reliable one?" she muttered, yawning as her finger tapped idly on the screen.
Then she saw an interesting message. The sender appeared to be a slightly baby-faced girl, around eighteen or nineteen years old.
Rogers: "Big shot, do you need herbs? I have over ten catties of various herbs and also this [Disposable Filter Blueprint (E)]."
Arya's heart skipped a beat at the mention of a filter blueprint. She immediately added Rogers as a friend.
Arya: "What's the price of the blueprint?"
Rogers didn't reply for over ten minutes. That was normal—after all, not everyone worked from home like Arya. She turned her attention to processing the herbs while she waited.
Processing herbs was like sorting vegetables: removing spoiled pieces, washing off dirt from roots, and clearing insect eggs from leaves and petals. The remaining ingredients were ready for drying.
One potion required 10 milliliters and 10 grams of each herb. To break even, she needed 4 catties per pot. The rest was water.
Making Magic Water wasn't complicated. Arya filled a bucket with water, poured it into the crucible, and released her magic to fully fuse the magical energy into the water molecules. Soon, a pot of slightly blue Magic Water was ready. The process used 50 points of Arya's magic—acceptable for the result.
Returning to her desk, she found that Rogers had finally replied.
Rogers: "I want 10 Magic Potions for the blueprint, is that okay? And the herbs—do you want them?"
Arya: "I want the herbs too. How about this: here are ten Magic Potions—you can use them first. Give me the blueprint, and I'll make up the difference tomorrow."
Rogers: "The difference? Ten is enough, ten is enough."
Arya: "Alchemy emphasizes equivalent exchange; ten crude potions alone cannot match this blueprint."
Rogers: "Big shot is particular [thumbs up]."
Arya sent a trade request and received the blueprint.
[Disposable Filter Blueprint (E)]
Materials: Wood *50, Cotton *5, Charcoal *5, Sand *10, Small Stones *50, Cloth *3
Effect: Can filter impurities from water or drug residues.
Description: With it, Mom no longer has to worry about me drinking dirty water. But be careful, the magic in the water cannot be removed; drinking this kind of water might upset your stomach.
The blueprint was probably useless to Rogers because it couldn't remove magic from water. The materials were mostly easy to gather: small stones from the stream and cotton from dismantled products. Arya even took the teddy bear she had bought for decoration and removed five wads of cotton.
The finished filter resembled a large, split wooden barrel. The vertical section in the upper half housed the filter, and the lower half collected filtered water. Unlike household dispensers, it had no faucet.
With everything prepared, Arya went to check the herbs drying on the balcony. Perfect timing—they were thoroughly dried. She poured the kuxing grass and huangwei flowers from the winnowing basket into the crucible. With a snap of her fingers, a dazzling flame erupted from the center of the Alchemy base.
In reality, it was just her activating an Alchemy Array, imbued with her magic. She didn't set it up to show off; it was the easiest way to control heat without bending her legs. During Alchemy, heat control was crucial—low heat to boil, medium for aroma extraction, and back to low for simmering.
The long eight-hour simmering process began. Arya, prepared from her previous attempt, had food, water, books, and a set alarm. Eight hours was nothing to her. She floated above the ground, immune to physical strain like varicose veins, entirely immersed in knowledge.
Her diligence wasn't just about survival in this world—it was also about healing her legs. If the advanced tech of her previous hospital failed, she would try the Alchemy of Karim Continent. She planned to create a potion that could allow her to be reborn.
It was a long, arduous plan, which fueled her thirst for knowledge. She knew this path was unique—without her legs' limitations, she might have ignored these books like anyone else. Perhaps this was a blessing in disguise, though she would have preferred living with her beloved parents rather than receiving such a "gift" in this way.